NEW YORK – A new study has identified the 425 “carbon bombs” the world needs to defuse to keep climate change from spiraling out of control.
These coal, oil, and natural gas extraction projects made it into the list because they each could be responsible for at least 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide emissions, more than enough to push the global average surface temperature to more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, which scientists say would unleash devastating floods, droughts, and wildfires.1
With the global average temperature rise already at 1.2 degrees C, the scientific community agrees that we only have a few more years to drastically reduce emissions—if we fail to do so, many climate change effects will be irreversible.
The study argues we need to defuse these carbon bombs in order to guarantee a liveable world for future generations, especially those living in the global south, who are already bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.1
These projects are located all over the world, but China (141), Russia (41), the United States (28), Iran (24), and Saudi Arabia (23) are the countries with the most carbon bombs.
The largest carbon bombs include oil and gas deposits in the Permian Basin in the U.S., the Montney Play shale gas deposits in Canada, and the Yamal Megaproject in Russia.
To read the rest of the story, click on Tree Hugger
